Instructions: 1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or heavy casserole over medium heat. Add meat and brown well on all sides; if necessary brown meat in batches to avoid crowding.

2. Remove meat from pan and add onions and saute until browned.

3. Return meat to pan and add carrots, salt, and enough water to just cover. Bring to a boil, skimming occasionally, then cover and simmer over low heat, skimming once or twice, for 1 hour.

4. Peel both types of potatoes and cut in large dice. After meat and carrots have cooked 1 hour, add potatoes, sweet potatoes, honey, cinnamon, and pepper to pan and mix gently. Push vegetables into liquid and bring to a boil. Partly cover and simmer 30 minutes. Meanwhile, soak prunes in enough hot water to cover for about 30 minutes.

5. Gently stir stew once. Remove prunes from their liquid, reserving liquid if later thickening the stew, and add prunes to pan. Uncover and simmer 30 minutes longer or until meat is very tender. Shake pan occasionally to prevent sticking but avoid stirring so as not to break up ingredients.

6. The stew should be moist but not soupy. If allowed to stand for 1 hour or more before being served, it will absorb enough of the excess liquid.

If too much liquid remains, bake uncovered in a 350 F oven for 15 to 30 minutes. Alternatively, stir flour with 2 tablespoons prune liquid in a bowl, gradually stir in about 1 cup of meat cooking liquid, and return mixture to pan; simmer about 5 minutes.

(Stew can be made 1 day ahead and reheated gently in a covered pan over low heat or in a 300 F oven.)

Serve from a deep serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley if desired.

Serves 4 to 6

NOTES :
This recipe is part of a menu for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

I am considering making some for this weekends dinners, using frozen chopped butternut squash instead of doing all the extra prep work on whole fresh squash.

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